Business
Customs Agents Score BUA Low
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) Port Harcourt Seaport I branch has rated the operations of BUA Port and Terminal Limited, one of the concessionaires operating in Port Harcourt Wharf very low.
ANALCA which came up with this position in an interaction with The Tide in Port Harcourt stated that BUA has failed on its part to honour the concessionaire agreement it entered into with the Federal Government by the way it attends to matters at the port.
Speaking during the interaction, the chairman of the association, Chief Obi Chima said that if BUA management sincerely commits themselves to the concessioning agreement, the port business activities will flourish far better than what it is at the moment.Rather than embarking on programmes and ideas that will change the condition of the wharf, like what their counterpart, Port and Terminal Operators Limited (PTOL) is doing, BUA is not even prepared to maintain infrastructures it met on ground.
According to the ANLCA chairman “BUA is a disappointment in Port Harcourt Port, and I wonder why the area is being concessioned to it, when there are better operators to do the work”.
He commended the efforts of the PTOL towards ensuring that the Port Harcourt Port returns back to its original status of general cargo operations, which he said is the main crux of maintaining business.
Chief Chima however, express satisfaction with the level of commitment the PTOL has gone within the period if began operations at the wharf, which are made visible in the several infrastructures if has reconstructed, like the four key aprons, customs enforcement centres, were houses, container stacking areas and the purchase of container handling equipment.